TRUE DESIRES

And a certain man lame from his mothers womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. (Act 3:2-5). In reply to the man’s request, Peter and Paul stated that they had no money but they indicated that they possessed a substance of greater worth. With this substance they imparted healing to the man.


It is very crucial to note that the crippled man’s request was beneath his true desire. What he really desired was healing (Acts 3:7-9). However, life’s experiences had taught him to downplay his true desire in order to avoid constant disappointment. With these experiences, he had become bent into a state of ‘pragmatism and practical expectation this state is really a guise that forces one to let go of one’s heart-felt expectation.

In Mark 11: 13-14 20-24, Jesus said, ‘For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass he shall have whatsoever he saith. He then went on to explain the foundational principle for the actualisation of that Scripture… therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.’ Jesus stated that when the faith of God is used on the true desires of our heart (without wavering), we will have those things that we desire. This principle contradicts the mould that the crippled man in Acts 3 had been forced into a mould where individuals are forced to short-change their earnest heart desires under the guise of practicality. This mould dictates that individuals should ask for the things that they can obtain safely, things that do not necessarily require spiritual exercise to get.

In essence, the world’s view of practicality requires that we settle for the mundane and easily accessible things in life. However, Jesus said that the law of faith works with genuine heart desires. Jesus showed that the starting point of seeing manifestation in our lives is that believers ought to ask for things that they truly desire. The depth of these desires is only known to the individuals concerned. It has nothing to do with the sub-standard or accepted norm in their environment. These original desires are often found deep in the souls of these people and is the anchor to their souls. (Hebrews 6:19).-- Pastor Poju Oyemade